How I Built My Own Android App With ChatGPT (And How You Can Too)

Have you ever wished you had your own custom app on your phone?

Not something from the Play Store…
Your own app. Your icon. Your features. Your rules.

That’s what I wanted.

I wanted an app that could:

• Track my tasks
• Store my notes and diary
• Keep lists (like shopping and maintenance)
• Remind me of things with notifications
• Use voice input so I could talk instead of type

So I teamed up with ChatGPT and Android Studio and built it.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how I did it, what tools I used, and how you can follow a similar path—even if you’re not a pro developer.

I’ll also share a great book that helped me understand Android and Kotlin better:
👉 How to Build Android Applications with Kotlin (affiliate link – I may earn a small commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you.)

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Why Build Your Own App?

Here’s my problem:

I had notes and tasks everywhere:

• On my phone
• In OneNote
• On sticky notes
• In ChatGPT chats
• On my Kindle Scribe
• In random text files

It was chaos.

I wanted one place to hold:

• Work tasks
• Personal life stuff
• Business ideas
• Family reminders
• Study notes
• Legal notes
• Health tracking

I tried existing apps, but none of them fit exactly what I wanted.

So I thought:

“Why not build my own Rememberall app?”

(Yes, like the crystal ball that remembers everything 🔮)

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Tools I Used

Here’s what I used to build my app:

• Android Studio – the main IDE (development environment) for Android
• Kotlin – the programming language
• Room – to save data (tasks, notes, lists) in a local database
• ChatGPT – to help me write code, fix errors, and design screens
• My own brain – to decide what I actually wanted the app to do 😄

And to go deeper into Android and Kotlin, I recommend this book:

👉 How to Build Android Applications with Kotlin
It’s a hands-on guide to building Android apps with Kotlin, testing them, and getting them ready for release. It pairs really nicely with using ChatGPT as your “coding buddy.”

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Step 1: Setting Up Android Studio

First, I downloaded the latest version of Android Studio from Google.

Once it was installed, I:

1. Clicked “New Project”
2. Chose “Empty Activity”
3. Gave it a name – I used Rememberall
4. Made sure Kotlin was the language
5. Clicked Finish

Boom. Android Studio created a starter app with a single screen and a boring default Android icon.

From there, ChatGPT and I started turning it into something useful.

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Step 2: Designing the Core Features

I knew I didn’t want just another simple to-do app. I wanted something that felt like a personal command center.

So we planned out these main parts:

• Tasks tab
  • Create tasks with titles, categories, and due dates
  • Set recurring tasks (like changing air filters or car maintenance)
  • Mark tasks complete
  • Get notifications before things are due
  • Use voice input to add tasks by speaking
• Notes / Diary tab
  • Write notes, ideas, and diary entries
  • Edit or delete them
  • (Later: add voice input for recording meetings or thoughts)
• Lists tab
  • Create lists (shopping, packing, maintenance, etc.)
  • Add items line by line
  • (Next step: checkboxes for each item so you can mark them done while shopping)
• Help / Info tab
  • Explain how to use the app
  • Show tips like “tap to edit, long-press to complete/share”
  • Include a button that opens my website
  • Manage categories
  • Toggle light/dark theme
  • Export and import backup data

We built this using tabs at the bottom (a BottomNavigationView) so I can switch between Tasks, Notes, Lists, and Help.

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Step 3: Saving Data With Room

I didn’t want my tasks to disappear when I closed the app.

So we used Room, which is part of Android Jetpack. Room lets you:

• Define data classes like Task, Note, and ListEntry
• Save them to a local database on the phone
• Query them back when the app opens

For example, a Task has:

• title
• category
• dueDate
• isRecurring
• repeatDays

ChatGPT helped me write:

• The entities (data classes)
• The DAOs (data access objects)
• The database class

I already know some Java, so Kotlin felt pretty comfortable. But the details of Room and architecture can be confusing. That’s where using a book plus ChatGPT is powerful.

If you want a structured guide, check out:
👉 How to Build Android Applications with Kotlin

It goes step-by-step through building real apps so you understand what’s happening under the hood.

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Step 4: Making the UI Actually Nice to Use

The first version of the app was ugly but working.

Then we improved the UI:

• Used RecyclerView to show lists of tasks, notes, and lists
• Fixed layout issues where items were hidden under my phone’s status bar
• Added FloatingActionButtons for adding tasks, notes, and lists
• Added a search bar and category filter for tasks
• Let the user add their own custom categories (like “Army”, “Business”, “Kids”, etc.), which are saved and stay forever

ChatGPT helped a lot with the XML layouts:

• Lining up views
• Adding padding
• Using ConstraintLayout correctly
• Keeping the floating buttons above the bottom nav bar

It felt like pair-programming with someone who never gets tired of answering layout questions.

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Step 5: Adding Voice Input and Notifications

This is where it started to feel like magic.

Voice input for tasks

I added a little mic button on the Tasks tab that:

• Launches Android’s built-in speech-to-text
• Lets me say something like: “Change air filter in 30 days”
• Fills in the new task dialog with the spoken text as the title

No extra libraries needed—just the RecognizerIntent API and a bit of Kotlin.

Notifications

For notifications, we:

• Created a NotificationChannel (required on newer Android versions)
• Used AlarmManager to schedule reminders at 9:00am on the due date (or as soon as possible if the due date is in the past)
• Built a BroadcastReceiver that fires and shows the actual notification

Now, when I set a task with a due date, the app schedules a reminder. If it’s a recurring task, long-pressing it lets me:

• Mark it complete and auto-schedule the next one, or
• Delete it

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Step 6: Extras – Lists, Backup, Sharing, Theme, and Help

Once the basics were done, we added quality-of-life features:

• Lists tab
  • For shopping lists, maintenance lists, project steps, etc.
  • Each list has a title, category, and items typed line by line.
  • You can edit or delete lists, and (coming next) tap items to check them off and grey them out.
• Sharing via text/email
  • Long-press a task, note, or list and choose Share.
  • It opens the standard Android share sheet, so you can send it via email, text, etc.
• Backup / restore
  • Export all tasks, notes, lists, and categories to a JSON string.
  • Share that string (email it to yourself, save it in a file).
  • Later, paste it into “Import backup” to restore everything.
• Theme toggle
  • Button to switch between light and dark theme.
  • The choice is saved, so the app remembers your setting.
• Help / Info tab
  • Shows instructions like:
    • Tap to edit
    • Long-press to complete, delete, or share
  • Button to open my website: a-aevents.com
  • Button to manage categories
  • Buttons to export and import backups

It’s not just “a to-do list” anymore. It’s a real personal tool.

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Where ChatGPT Fits In

Could I have written all of this by myself? Maybe.
Would it have taken way longer and been more frustrating? Yes.

Here’s how ChatGPT helped:

• Answered “why is this crashing?” questions by looking at stack traces
• Converted my rough ideas into working Kotlin code
• Fixed layout issues in XML
• Helped design the app’s structure (tabs, fragments vs single activity, etc.)
• Gave me ready-made code for adapters, dialogs, long-press menus, and more

And when I wanted to level up my understanding instead of just copy-pasting, I combined it with a good book:

👉 How to Build Android Applications with Kotlin

The book gives deep explanations and patterns.
ChatGPT helps apply them to my specific app idea.

Perfect combo.

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You Can Do This Too

You don’t need to be a “real programmer” to build your own app anymore.

Here’s a simple path you can follow:

1. Pick a real problem in your life
   • Too many notes everywhere?
   • Need a custom workout log?
   • Need a habit tracker made for your life?
2. Install Android Studio and create a new Kotlin app.
3. Ask ChatGPT for help in small steps
   • “Show me how to add a button.”
   • “How do I save data with Room?”
   • “How do I make a list with RecyclerView?”
4. Use a solid book as a backbone
   • Like this one: How to Build Android Applications with Kotlin
   • Learn the core pieces while ChatGPT helps you tie them together.
5. Keep iterating:
   • Add a feature
   • Test it on your phone
   • Fix bugs
   • Add another feature

One day you wake up, look at your home screen, and there’s your app—with your icon—doing exactly what you want.

That feeling is amazing.